Amazon launches first Kindle with stylus enabling readers to annotate books

Amazon has launched its first Kindle to come with a stylus, enabling readers to annotate books or PDFs and doodle in the margins.  

The online retailer said the Kindle Scribe features the world’s first 10.2-inch, 300-ppi high-definition, front-lit display and pen, and that its large display “feels like writing on paper”. 

Kindle Scribe comes with a “basic” or “premium” pen option, the chief difference being that the premium pen also includes a dedicated eraser on top and a customisable shortcut button, enabling the pen to function as an eraser or highlighter, or to open a new sticky note when the button is pressed.  

The £329.99 device’s digital sticky notes enable readers to add handwritten notes to books, with notes and highlights automatically organised in one place to keep pages clutter-free. Readers can also journal or take notes using a variety of templates, including to-do lists for tracking tasks and lined paper for meeting notes. All notebooks are automatically saved and backed-up to the cloud for free, and in early 2023 will also be accessible via the Kindle app.  

The Send to Kindle feature also enables readers to import personal documents from their computer or phone to Kindle Scribe and write directly on PDF documents. They can also import and create handwritten sticky notes in Microsoft Word documents, web articles, and other document formats with adjustable font sizes and layout. From early 2023, readers will be able to send documents to Kindle Scribe directly from within Microsoft Word. 

Eric Saarnio, vice-president of Amazon devices international, said: “Kindle Scribe is the best Kindle we’ve ever built, creating a reading and writing experience that feels like real paper. It’s inspired by the Kindle customers who have added billions of notes and highlights to books over the years, and it’s also ideal for reviewing and marking up documents, managing your to-do list, or doodling over a big idea. Plus, it offers all the Kindle benefits customers know and love—millions of books on demand, adjustable fonts, premium reading features, and weeks and weeks of battery life—with the benefit of a beautiful, large display.”